Ram Prasad Chaudhary: Former BSP Leader Seeking Fortunes in SP Terrains (image: instagram.com/ramprasadchaudhary_official)

Ram Prasad Chaudhary is a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, he will be contesting from the Basti constituency. He had been representing Kaptanganj of Basti district for five consecutive terms, from 1993 to 2012. Besides, he served as a cabinet minister in the Mayawati government twice and once in the Kalyan Singh government.

Hailing from Jigna Village in Basti district, Ram Prasad Chaudhary began his political career in Khalilabad as an MP in 1989 as a member of the Janata Party. After his successive five victories in the 2017 Assembly elections, Ram Prasad lost to BJP candidate Chandra Prakash Shukla by a margin of 6,827 votes. Similarly, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he was defeated by the BJP”s Harish Dwivedi by a margin of 30,354 votes, as he represented the SP and BSP in the Mahagathbandhan, or Grand Alliance. He represented Basti seat in that election.

In November 2019, BSP chief Mayawati expelled expelled Ram Prasad Chaudhary and three former MLAs from the party citing indiscipline and anti-party activities. He was one of the biggest leaders for the BSP in Purvanchal. Due to the strong influence he wield among the Kurmi community, Chaudhary has been referred as “Shere Purvanchal”. After ousting, the former state cabinet minister joined SP In the presence of Akhilesh Yadav.

In March 2014, a case has been registered against Ram Prasad for violation of poll code of conduct under section 171 of the Representation of the People Act of CRPC. However, in November 2022, the court acquitted the former minister for lack of evidence against him.